Money and Card Carrier Assembly

ABSTRACT

A money and card carrier assembly includes a first component having a first portion, wherein the first portion includes a plurality of pockets formed therein. Each of the plurality of pockets is sized to allow a credit card to be releasably retained therein. The assembly also includes a second portion, with a first hinge connecting the first portion and the second portion. A second component has a sleeve sized to allow the second portion of the first component to be removably inserted therein and a plurality of pockets located on either side of the sleeve. Each of the plurality of pockets is sized to allow a credit card to be releasably retained therein. A third component has a first generally planar portion, a second generally planar portion, and a second hinge connecting the first generally planar portion to the second generally planar portion. Each of the first and second generally planar portions is sized to be removably insertable into the sleeve.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 62/916,466, filed on Oct. 17, 2020, which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an assembly that is used to carry moneyand cards. The assembly is modular and can be releasably attached to acell phone case.

Description of the Related Art

Money and credit/identification cards are typically stored in a standardwallet, which can become quite bulky. With cell phones being ubiquitousthese days, people need to carry around both a wallet and a cell phone,which can be cumbersome.

It would be beneficial to provide a money and card carrier that issmaller than a wallet and, if desired, can also be releasably attachedto a cell phone.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In one embodiment, the present invention is a money and card carrierassembly that includes a first component having a first portion, whereinthe first portion includes a plurality of pockets formed therein. Eachof the plurality of pockets is sized to allow a credit card to bereleasably retained therein. The assembly also includes a secondportion, with a first hinge connecting the first portion and the secondportion. A second component has a sleeve sized to allow the secondportion of the first component to be removably inserted therein and aplurality of pockets located on either side of the sleeve. Each of theplurality of pockets is sized to allow a credit card to be releasablyretained therein. A third component has a first generally planarportion, a second generally planar portion, and a second hingeconnecting the first generally planar portion to the second generallyplanar portion. Each of the first and second generally planar portionsis sized to be removably insertable into the sleeve.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and constitutepart of this specification, illustrate the presently preferredembodiments of the invention, and, together with the general descriptiongiven above and the detailed description given below, serve to explainthe features of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the components of a money and cardcarrier assembly according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first component of the money and cardcarrier assembly of FIG. 1 inserted into a second component of the moneyand card carrier assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the first component of the money and cardcarrier assembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of the second component of the moneyand card carrier assembly of FIG. 1

FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the money and card carrierassembly of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the first component of the money andcard carrier assembly of FIG. 1 inserted into the sleeve of a cell phonecover; and

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the third component of the money andcard carrier assembly of FIG. 1 partially inserted into the secondcomponent of the money and card carrier assembly of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the drawings, like numerals indicate like elements throughout.Certain terminology is used herein for convenience only and is not to betaken as a limitation on the present invention. The terminology includesthe words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof and words ofsimilar import. The embodiments illustrated below are not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed.These embodiments are chosen and described to best explain the principleof the invention and its application and practical use and to enableothers skilled in the art to best utilize the invention.

Reference herein to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of theinvention. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment, nor are separate or alternative embodiments necessarilymutually exclusive of other embodiments. The same applies to the term“implementation.”

As used in this application, the word “exemplary” is used herein to meanserving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or designdescribed herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs. Rather, use ofthe word exemplary is intended to present concepts in a concretefashion.

Additionally, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or”. That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. In addition, the articles “a” and “an” as usedin this application and the appended claims should generally beconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, each numerical value and rangeshould be interpreted as being approximate as if the word “about” or“approximately” preceded the value of the value or range.

The use of figure numbers and/or figure reference labels in the claimsis intended to identify one or more possible embodiments of the claimedsubject matter in order to facilitate the interpretation of the claims.Such use is not to be construed as necessarily limiting the scope ofthose claims to the embodiments shown in the corresponding figures.

The present invention is used to provide a slim carrier assembly 100(“assembly 100”) for money and/or cards, such as credit cards, driver'slicenses, and work identification cards, resulting in a slimmer carrier,without the bulk of a standard wallet. Assembly 100 is provided in threeseparate pieces that can be used separately or combined in variouscombinations as a user sees fit.

FIG. 1 shows the three pieces 110, 160, 180 of assembly 100, which willeach be described in detail. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the firstcomponent 110 is a sleeve 112 having magnetically attractive elements sothat two opposing ends of the sleeve 112 can be removably magneticallyattached to each other. Sleeve 112 includes a first portion 114 having aplurality of pockets 116, 118, 120, 122 formed therein. Pockets 116-122are sized with an internal width sufficiently large to allow a creditcard 50, 52 or other similarly sized card to be inserted at leastpartially therein, with an exposed portion of card 50, 52 above itsrespective pocket 116-122 to allow a user to grasp and remove card 50,52 from pocket 116-120. Pockets 116 and 118 are on an outside 124 offirst portion 114 and pockets 120, 122 are on an opposing, inside 125 offirst portion 114.

A central internal strip 126 is inserted between pockets 116, 118 andpockets 120, 122 and defines outside 124 and inside 125 of first portion114. Central internal strip 126 can be formed from a first externalfabric 127 that is attached to a second internal fabric 129.

A first fabric 128 wraps around central internal strip 126 andcooperates with central internal strip 126 to form outside pocket 116and inside pocket 120. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, first fabric 128 is asingle piece fabric that is connected with an inside seam 130 on theinside 125 of first fabric portion 114. The location of seam 130 hidesseam 130 from view when first portion 114 is folded over onto a secondportion 146 and also avoids edge stitching, which allows first component110 to be a minimum width while still being able to receive cards 50therein.

Similarly, a second fabric 132 wraps around first fabric 128, butslightly below first fabric 128, so that a portion of first fabric 128is visible. Second fabric 132 cooperates with first fabric 126 to formoutside pocket 118 and inside pocket 122. Similar to first fabric 128,second fabric 132 is a single piece fabric that is connected with aninside seam 134 on the inside 125 of first fabric portion 114. Thelocation of seam 134 hides seam 134 from view and also avoids edgestitching, which allows first component 110 to be a minimum width whilestill being able to receive cards 50, 52 therein.

Both first fabric 128 and second fabric 132 are attached to centralinternal strip 126 by a stitched seam 135 that extends along a free end136 of first portion 114. A shielded magnet 138 is embedded insidepocket 122.

A connected end 137 of first portion 114 is connected to a living hinge140. Living hinge 140 is constructed from first external fabric 127 andsecond internal fabric 129, with a separation between first externalfabric 127 and second internal fabric 129 so that a money clip 142(shown in FIG. 2) can be removably slid between first external fabric127 and second external fabric 129. Numerous types of money clips can beused, as long as money clip 142 includes a portion that can be slidbetween first external fabric 127 and second external fabric 129.

Living hinge 140 is connected to a connected end 144 of a second portion146. Second portion 146 has an internal portion 148 that includes twopockets 150, 152. Pockets 150, 152 are constructed from a single pieceof fabric 154 that cooperates with an extension of central internalstrip 126 such that central internal strip 126 and a first part 156 offabric 154 form pocket 150 and first part 156 of fabric 154 and a secondpart 157 of fabric 154 form pocket 152. Pockets 150, 152 are sewn toeach other and to central internal strip 126 at free end 158 of secondportion 146. Additionally, first part 156 of fabric 154 is sewn tocentral internal strip 126 above free end 158 along a seam 159 so that acard 54 inserted into pocket 150 extends above a card 56 (shown in FIG.3) inserted into pocket 152 and can be easier grasped and removed.Optionally, fabric 154 and central internal strip 126 can be a unitarypiece of fabric that is cut in a “T” to allow the left and right arms ofthe “T” (first part 156 and second part 157) to be folded over the stemof the “T” (central internal strip 126). The trunk (bottom) of the T isfolded up at seam 158 to form pocket 150. The right and left arms of the“T” are then folded onto each other, over top of pocket 150. The armsare adhesively connected to each other to maintain structure, and amagnetically attractive member 161 is sandwiched between the two piecesof fabric of the two arms. Finally, pocket 150 and pocket 152 aresecured by a single stitch along free end 158. This feature eliminatesthe need for stitching along the sides of pockets 150, 152, allowing thewidth of assembly 100 to remain as close to the width of a credit cardas possible.

With magnetically attractive member 161 inserted between the arms offabric 154 that form pocket 152, when second portion 146 is foldedtoward first portion 114 at living hinge 140, magnet 138 releasablymagnetically attaches to magnetically attractive member 161 toreleasably keep first portion 114 and second portion 146 together untilpulled apart by a force stronger than the magnetic force between magnet138 and magnetically attractive member 161. Magnetically attractivemember 161 can be a metal plate.

As shown in FIG. 1, first component 110 is shown without money clip 142.This configuration allows a card 50 in pocket 120 or pocket 150 toextend into the space occupied by the money clip 142. This results inthe top edges of cards from both pockets 120, 150 only being a few mmaway from each other so that first component 110 closes tightly withouta loose, floppy hinge, which is important for minimalism when not usingthe money clip 142, and can be especially important when attaching firstcomponent 110 to a phone 60, as shown in FIG. 6.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, second component 160 provides a centralsleeve 162 for second portion 146 to be optionally inserted into so thatfirst component 110 is removably inserted into second component 160.Second component 160 includes an inside portion 162 having pockets 164,166 that are sized to allow cards 50, 52 to be releasably insertedthereinto. Pockets 164, 166 can be staggered so that a card 52 insertedinto pocket 166 is partially exposed, while a card 50 inserted intopocket 164 is less exposed. Those skilled in the art, however, willrecognize that other configurations and numbers of pockets can beprovided.

Similarly, second component 160 includes an outside portion 172 havingpockets 174, 176 that are sized to allow cards 54, 56 to be releasablyinserted thereinto. Pockets 174, 176 are staggered so that a card 54inserted into pocket 176 is partially exposed, while a card 56 insertedinto pocket 174 is less exposed.

A magnetically attractive material 178 can be embedded in either thefront of pocket 166 or pocket 176 (magnetically attractive material 178is shown in FIG. 4 as being embedded in the front of pocket 166) sothat, when second portion 146 of first component 110 is inserted intosleeve 162 and first component 110 is folded onto second component 160,magnet 138 is attracted to magnetically attractive material 178 toreleasably retain second portion 146 of first component 110 againstsecond component 160.

Third component 180 includes a first generally planar portion 182attached to a second generally planar portion 184 by a living hinge 186.Similar to living hinge 140, living hinge 186 can be constructed from afirst external fabric 188 and a second internal fabric 190. Money clip142 can be inserted between first external fabric 188 and secondinternal fabric 190 as shown in FIG. 1, so that third component 180 canbe used simply as a money clip.

First generally planar portion 182 can include a magnet 192, whilesecond generally planar portion 184 can include a magneticallyattractive member (not shown), such as a metal plate. First and secondgenerally planar portions 182, 184 are each sufficiently narrow so thateither one of first and second generally planar portions 182, 184 can beinserted into central sleeve 162 so that third component 180 (with moneyclip 142) can be used together to hold money and cards.

Different combinations of pieces 110, 160, 180 and a cell phone case 60are shown in FIGS. 2, 6, and 7. In FIG. 2, second portion 146 of firstcomponent 110 is inserted into sleeve 162 in second component 160. InFIG. 6, second portion 146 of first component 110 is inserted into asleeve 62 in a cell phone case 160. In FIG. 7, money clip 142 isinserted into third component 180 and second generally planar portion184 of third component 180 is inserted into sleeve 162 of secondcomponent 160.

It will be further understood that various changes in the details,materials, and arrangements of the parts which have been described andillustrated in order to explain the nature of this invention may be madeby those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of theinvention as expressed in the following claims.

We claim:
 1. A money and card carrier assembly comprising: a firstcomponent having: a first portion, wherein the first portion includes atleast a first pocket formed therein, each of the at least first pocketbeing sized to allow a credit card to be releasably retained therein; asecond portion; and a first hinge connecting the first portion and thesecond portion.
 2. The money and card carrier assembly according toclaim 1, wherein the at least first pocket of the first portioncomprises an inside pocket and an outside pocket.
 3. The money and cardcarrier assembly according to claim 2, wherein the inside pocket and theoutside pocket are formed from a single piece of fabric.
 4. The moneyand card carrier assembly according to claim 3, wherein the single pieceof fabric is joined to itself by an inside seam.
 5. The money and cardcarrier assembly according to claim 1, further comprising a centralinternal strip extending between the at least first pocket and thesecond portion and being attached to the first hinge.
 6. The money andcard carrier assembly according to claim 5, wherein the at least firstpocket attached to the central internal strip by a single stitched seam.7. The money and card carrier assembly according to claim 6, wherein thestitched seam extends along a free end of the first portion.
 8. Themoney and card carrier assembly according to claim 1, wherein each ofthe first hinge and the second hinge comprises a first fabric and asecond fabric.
 9. The money and card carrier assembly according to claim8, wherein a separation is provided between the first fabric and thesecond fabric.
 10. The money and card carrier assembly according toclaim 9, further comprising a money clip adapted to be inserted in theseparation between the first fabric and the second fabric.
 11. The moneyand card carrier assembly according to claim 1, further comprising amagnet attached to the first portion of the first component and a firstmagnetically attractive member attached to the second portion of thefirst component.
 12. The money and card carrier assembly according toclaim 1, further comprising a second component having: a sleeve sized toallow the second portion of the first component to be removably insertedtherein; and at least a second pocket located on either side of thesleeve, each of the at least second pocket being sized to allow a creditcard to be releasably retained therein.
 13. The money and card carrierassembly according to claim 12, wherein the second portion comprises atleast a third pocket.
 14. The money and card carrier assembly accordingto claim 13, wherein the at least third pocket is constructed from asingle piece of fabric.
 15. The money and card carrier assemblyaccording to claim 12, further comprising a second magneticallyattractive member attached to the second component.
 16. The money andcard carrier assembly according to claim 15, further comprising a thirdcomponent having: a first generally planar portion; a second generallyplanar portion; and a second hinge connecting the first generally planarportion to the second generally planar portion, wherein each of thefirst and second generally planar portions is sized to be removablyinsertable into the sleeve.
 17. The money and card carrier assemblyaccording to claim 16, wherein the first generally planar portioncomprises a magnet.
 18. A money and card carrier assembly comprising: afirst component having: a first portion, wherein the first portionincludes at least a first pocket formed therein, each of the at leastfirst pocket being sized to allow a credit card to be releasablyretained therein; a second portion; and a first hinge connecting thefirst portion and the second portion; and a second component having: asleeve sized to allow the second portion of the first component to beremovably inserted therein; and at least a second pocket located oneither side of the sleeve, each of the at least second pocket beingsized to allow a credit card to be releasably retained therein.
 19. Amoney and card carrier assembly comprising: a first component having: afirst portion, wherein the first portion includes at least a firstpocket formed therein, each of the at least first pocket being sized toallow a credit card to be releasably retained therein; a second portion;and a first hinge connecting the first portion and the second portion;and a second component having: a sleeve sized to allow the secondportion of the first component to be removably inserted therein; and atleast a second pocket located on either side of the sleeve, each of theat least second pocket being sized to allow a credit card to bereleasably retained therein; and a third component having: a firstgenerally planar portion; a second generally planar portion; and asecond hinge connecting the first generally planar portion to the secondgenerally planar portion, wherein each of the first and second generallyplanar portions is sized to be removably insertable into the sleeve. 20.A money and card carrier assembly comprising: a pocket component having:a central sleeve; at least one pocket located on either side of thesleeve, each of the at least one pocket being sized to allow a creditcard to be releasably retained therein, each of the at least one pockethaving an outer surface; and a magnet embedded in the outer surface ofone of the at least one pocket; and a hinged component having: a firstgenerally planar portion having a magnet embedded therein; a secondgenerally planar portion having a magnetically attractive materialembedded therein; and a second hinge connecting the first generallyplanar portion to the second generally planar portion, wherein each ofthe first and second generally planar portions is sized to be removablyinsertable into the central sleeve.